Chavez supporters gather at Dr. Hector's old office

Supporters of Ram Chavez, former commander of a local American GI Forum
chapter, rallied in the street outside civil rights activist Dr. Hector
P. Garcias former medical office Thursday.

One estimate put the crowd at 30 people.

"There is some stuff I can't discuss because it's internal business,
but we wanted to let the public and the media know that the accusations
are false," said Bob Ortiz, vice commander of the Dr. Hector P. Garcia
Founders Chapter of the American GI Forum. Ortiz is also the acting
commander of the Founders Chapter until elections the first week of
September.

Chavez was removed from the American GI Forum of the United States
on July 28 after a panel hearing during the national convention in
Anaheim, Calif. He is appealing the decision. According to the written
decision the panel issued last month, Chavez was found guilty of
improperly removing Founders Chapter members from the organization
after former member Willie Davila requested financial documents in
2002.